William Ayers, formerly Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), founder of both the Small Schools Workshop and the Center for Youth and Society, has written extensively about social justice, democracy and education, the cultural contexts of schooling, and teaching as an essentially intellectual, ethical, and political enterprise.

Curiously, there seem to be quite a few things missing from his body of work…including the bodies. In his “impressive” list of writings, no mention of his dedication to Sirhan Sirhan who murdered Robert Kennedy in his book Prairie Fire or any of his famous quotes including “Kill the Capitalist pig,” referring to America and “Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home. Kill your parents. That’s where it is really at.” His wife Bernardin Dohrn notably said regarding the brutal Manson murders in California, “Dig it. First they killed those pigs. Then they ate dinner in the same room with them. Then they even shoved a fork into a victim’s stomach! Wild,” referring to then pregnant actress Sharon Tate. [LINK]

“I don’t regret setting bombs, I feel we didn’t do enough,” Ayers was also quoted as saying.

ECC is pretending that by inviting Ayers they are not honoring him but trying to provide different perspectives to their students. The glowing and thoroughly incomplete bio of Ayers on their own website leaves a lot of information out for a school attempting to present students with accurate information. No. According to ECC, Ayers is simply a “distinguished” professor from UIC.

According to this report, Ayers proudly proclaimed that his actions were specifically designed to help the Viet Cong, clearly in detriment to our men and women in uniform. He recalled receiving a ring from a representative of the North Vietnamese government that was made from an American plane shot down over North Vietnam. He was so touched by the gesture, as opposed to nauseated and disgusted as a normal American would be, he said he, “left the room to cry. I realized…America was evil…and that I was…living inside the belly of the beast…”

Will ECC invite Vietnam Veterans to speak to students so they can share their perspectives of what life was like for them because of people like Bill Ayers and his wife fomenting hate toward them? Would students find value knowing what it is like to defend your Country, return home to find spoiled academics shouting from the rafters that you are little more than a baby killer to be spit on? I posit that would be far more enlightening than listening to a man who said to the New York Times on September 11, 2001, “I wish we had done more.”

Even more enlightening would be to hear from Sgt. Brian McDonnell. But we can’t. He was murdered. Perhaps ECC can reach out to McDonnell’s son and ask for his enlightening perspectives on the impact of domestic terrorism on an average American family.

One can only wonder, since this is a public institution, if the people of Illinois are paying for Ayers to speak on campus.

If you live in Illinois, please consider attending his speech so that students might actually get the opportunity to hear a variety of voices. And consider letting Dr. Sam, ECC’s President, know how you feel about their whitewashed bio of Ayers and allowing him to speak to students. He can be reached at 847-697-1000.